Prison gerrymandering gives extra political power to legislators who have prisons in their districts. We put numbers on the problem and sparked a movement to protect our democratic process from the overgrown prison system.

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Polk County, Florida

According to the 2000 Census, Polk County, Florida has a population of 483,924 people. Of those, 385,099 (80%) are White, 65,545 (13%) are Black, and 45,933 (9%) are Latino[1].
However, 4,717 (or 1% of the 483,924 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Polk County a population of 479,207 with a demographic that is 80% White, 13% Black, and 10% Latino.

Reported in Census 2000

Incarcerated population

Actualpopulation

Total

483,924

4,717

479,207

White

385,099

2,194

382,905

Black

65,545

2,161

63,384

Latino

45,933

403

45,530

Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.